The Opposite Way Home
by Hikuro Yasei
Summary: Living alone with his brother, the most Sasuke has to worry about is passing his classes. But then people start getting murdered and attacked, and things get way too personal. AU, Highschool
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Naruto~

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Have you ever been in a situation when you're in some deep shit, and you suddenly remember the stupidest thing? Like when you get in a car wreck, and the new car you got is completely trashed and you suddenly remember you have an algebra test the next day? Or like when you nearly caught the house on fire when you forgot your pizza in the oven, and you start thinking about how there's nothing else to eat for supper?

Well, yea, Sasuke was in one of those situation, except he didn't have to worry about police and a failing grade, or buying a new oven and going grocery shopping again. No, he was stuck face to face with his insane uncle, a gun pointed straight at his head while the person he came here to save in the first place was unconscious behind said crazy uncle. And as he was on the ground, shooting such a glare at the man that even his brother would be proud, he couldn't help but think he shouldn't have left his damn phone in the car, because then he could have called Itachi, who would be on his way with the entire damn police force right now.

As Naruto would say, he was royally fucked.

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Compared to other households in the city, their shared apartment was rather quiet. There weren't any noises of smaller kids playing, because there were none; there weren't any smells coming from the kitchen from a mother's cooking, or a dad's favorite t.v. show echoing through the halls, again, because there wasn't a father or a mother or a small brother or sister playing. There was just a seventeen year old high school student and his twenty-two years old brother, living alone in this quiet apartment.

"Pizza tonight?" the oldest one, Itachi, asked as he leaned against the kitchen counter and messed with his phone. The younger, not being a morning person, yawned tiredly as he went through the cabinets for something quick to eat.

Sasuke glanced over at the remains of the Chinese take out they had the night before.

"Sure," he replied, snatching the pop tart box and grimacing at the last packet. "I guess your working late tonight?" Itachi worked full-time at Akatsuki Investigation Agency. They were the people the police went to if they couldn't handle a case, and Itachi was rather valued at his job for his ability to solve a hard case rather quickly..

"I'm closing," Itachi answered, not sounding entirely thrilled.. They hasn't had a case in a while, so that basically meant they were all sitting around and doing absolutely nothing.

"Sounds fun," Sasuke stated sarcastically.

"Oh, yes, I'm seeping joy." Onyx eyes that were most definitely _not _seeping joy drifted over to the clock that hung over the oven. "And aren't you late?" Similar dark eyes glanced at the time.

"Shit," Sasuke cursed as he stuck a poptart in his mouth and grabbed his bag, throwing the last pastry at his brother, who smoothly caught it. Itachi grimaced at the cherry poptart and threw it on the counter.

"Have fun," he offered to his little brother as Sasuke dashed out the door.

Sasuke slug his backpack over his shoulder and walked down the stairs at a rushed pace. He scowled. Now, he most likely had to run part of the way to school...

A silver Volkswagen parked by his and Itachi's car- well, Itachi's. Sasuke's was being...repaired- caught his attention, and he almost gave a sigh of relief at the blonde leaning against the driver's seat.

Naruto turned around and gave him a grin.

"Took you long enough," he stated, opening the door and unlocking the passenger side. " Did you get your beauty sleep?" He snickered. Sasuke rolled his eyes as he got in and shut the door.

"Hn," he replied. The word was kind of a trademark he and his brother had. It was actually very useful, in most cases. "Dobe, your shirts on backwards." Naruto looked down.

"Oh. Hehe." He stuck his arms in his shirt and turned it around before sticking the keys in the ignition.

After a few minutes of driving, Sasuke wrinkled his nose.

"What is that _smell_?" he asked, risking a glance into the mess that was the back seat. Naruto grimaced.

"The old man borrowed my car yesterday when I was at work," he stated. "I actually wouldn't be surprised if something died back there."

Naruto, like Sasuke, didn't have parents either, but he lived with his foster father, Iruka Umino. His god-father was Jiraiya Sannin, who sometimes likes to borrow Naruto's car- and money- when the poor blonde was working. It' s not like he didn't have a car, he was just too lazy to go get his own from the back.

Glancing at the talkative blond beside him who was chatting away, Sasuke wondered, and not for the first time, why exactly he put up with the cheerful teen. If anything, they were complete opposites. Naruto was optimistic and made friends with every person who came within ten feet of him. If there was anyone who would try to dislike him, which was in vain of course, Naruto would bug them and help them out until they admitted they were friends. That's exactly what he had done to Sasuke, even though when they first met they were at each other like a cat and dog.

Sasuke was antisocial, to put it bluntly. Or rather, used to be until Naruto forced friends upon him. He didn't like crowds and during their freshman years, was convinced he didn't need friends at all. Anyone who tried to talk to him received either a glare or his trademark "hn" as a reply. He was quiet and got through his classes easily, passing each with and A. Unfortunately, for him, half of the girls in school were out to marry him, something that Naruto found very amusing, especially at times like Valentines Day when there were girls literally lining up to give their valentines or marriage proposal to a horrified-looking Sasuke. After time he just learned to skip school that day.

Sasuke smirked when Naruto yelled at him for not paying attention. They still fought, of course, but wouldn't hesitate to help each other out if they were in trouble. Other people were completely baffled when the two started hanging out, but of course they were shocked earlier, too, when they met someone Naruto didn't like.

"You're such a bastard," Naruto whined, scowling at the road slightly. Sasuke merely smirked wider, which of course sent Naruto into another rant again. And yes, name calling and cuss words were very common in their friendship.

As they neared the school, the amount of cars on the road increased, and Naruto went from chewing out Sasuke to chewing out the idiot who just made an 'oh-so illegal' turn and cut him off.

"Did you finish those worksheets for Biology? Naruto asked as he navigated through the cars and into the parking lot.

"Hn. You need them?"

Naruto grinned. "Can I copy them while we're waiting for Kakashi to show first hour?" Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto stole the spot the person who cut him off earlier was about to get.

"Naruto, you ass!" the person in the other yelled out of his window. Naruto grinned wickedly.

"Oh, it was Kiba," he realized." That makes it even more worth it." He turned around, fishing his backpack out from the mess in the back seat. Sasuke slung his over his shoulder and opened the door.

"Hey, wait for me!" Naruto shouted when Sasuke started walking. Naruto got out of the car, only to hit his head on the way out and curse. Sasuke scoffed at him, paused, and waited for him to catch up.

"Do you think Kakashi's gonna take up that homework?" Naruto asked he neared and they started walking. Sasuke scoffed again.

"Of course not. He only gave it to us because Sarutobi started yelling at him for not giving us enough work." Actually, their lazy teacher just liked to go over the material once or twice, then give them study guides and have a huge test the next Friday. He liked to say that it was their choice if they passed or failed, and frankly he didn't care.

"Yea, but what if he makes him take it up?" Naruto persisted.

"He's probably too busy yelling at Asuma for smoking on campus."

Suddenly Sasuke had the feeling he should duck, but before he thought twice about it, it was too late.

"Sasuke-kuuun!" a girl with bubblegum pink hair squealed as she literally jumped on Sasuke. Sasuke stumbled from her weight and she pouted. "Oh, I'm not that heavy," she grumbled.

"Yes, but it was unexpected. " Sasuke replied frostily. "Now get off."

"So mean," Sakura whined, but she let go of him. She smiled at the pouting blonde next to him. "Hey, Naruto," she greeted. She threw a pout towards Sasuke. "He's being mean again," she tattled. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"It's okay," Naruto told her seriously, putting a consoling hand on her shoulder. "I've tried many a time, but his bastardness is incurable." Sasuke scoffed at them both while Sakura giggled.

"Oh, did you hear?" Sakura asked suddenly with a little gasp. "The head cheerleader went missing two days ago!"

"Really?" Naruto asked in surprise. They didn't know her, but they had some classes with her, so it was a bit of a shock. "Wait, didn't I hear you and Ino talking about how she would disappear and turn up a week later in some place like Vegas with some random guy?"

"No, this is different," Sakura stated with a wave of her hand. "This time her car was still parked at school, with her purse and everything!"

Sasuke pushed their conversation the the back of his mind, not caring for gossip at all. Neither did Naruto, of course, but the blonde like Sakura and would hang of every word she said. The raven haired teen glanced around, feeling bored. He saw Shikamaru Nara sitting at one of the outside tables with his head down, most likely sleeping. His friend Chouji Akimichi was beside him, eating what looked to be barbeque chips and ignoring Ino Yamanaka, Sakura's best friend and the girl who was most likely about to come over to where Sasuke and Naruto were and flirt with Sasuke. She was currently trying to tell Chouji how bad that brand of chips were for his health.

At another table sat Neji Hyuuga, Rock Lee, and Tenten, whose last name Sasuke didn't know. Sasuke made a face slightly when he looked at Neji. The two didn't exactly get along well, though Neji's personality was dangerously close to Sasuke's. In this case, two negatives did not make a positive. Two positives apparently didn't, either. Rock Lee had also had an infatuation with Sakura , so Naruto didn't really take too well to the guy.

Speaking of Neji, he had a cousin that went to the same school. Sasuke's eyes drifted over to her tale, where she sat with Inuzuka Kiba, who was just sitting down, most likely because he had to park in the back of the parking lot, and Shino Aburame. It was kind of odd to see Kiba sitting with Shino and Hinata, because he was almost as loud as Naruto, while the other two barely talked. Hinata did hang out with Ino and Sakura though, and they all came to school together. Shino was a mystery to most students, and unnerved even Sasuke sometimes.

Sasuke noticed Hinata sneaking peaks at Naruto when she thought no-one was watching, and he watched, slightly amused, until she noticed. WHen she did, her face went beat red and she turned back to her table. He smirked when Kiba tried to ask her what was wrong and she blushed more. She studied the table for a few seconds before looking up at Sasuke and offering a small wave. He shot a pointed look at Naruto and looked back at her, and her face went red again. He smirked again and decided to stop torturing the poor girl, turning back to Naruto and Sakura just as the bell rang.

"Time for one-third hour!" Sakura declared happily, clapping her hands. Yes, one-third hour. As in 1/3. Their first house teacher was Kakashi, who didn't like to actually come to class until about twenty minutes in.

Sasuke glanced back to see Hinata with her cheeks still slightly flushed, and followed Naruto through the crowd of students.

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They sat in the back of the class, of course, though Sakura sat two seats in front of Sasuke. Students had taken out cell phones, Ipods, and last minute homework to work on until Kakashi showed. Sasuke grabbed the biology worksheets and gave to to Naruto to copy. Ahead of them Sakura was listening to her Ipod, her pen tapping against her chin along with the beat of whatever song she was listening to as she stared lazily out the window. Sasuke leaned back in his chair, contemplating taking his own Ipod out, when their teacher walked in, causing a shocked silence from some students and annoyed groans from other. as they put up the many things they weren't supposed to have out. The silver haired man paused at his desk.

"Sorry I'm early, class," Kakashi sighed, sounding depressed. The students in that class were used to hearing this than the more common 'Sorry I'm _late_, class.' "Sarutobi threatened to put me in charge of Relay for Life if I didn't show up on time," he explained. More groans were heard.

"Yes, students, Kakashi is actually going to teach you for once." An old man around maybe his late seventies walked in, holding a professional but kind air around him.

"They pass, don't they?" Kakashi asked defensilvely. Sarutobi glared slightly.

"Because you give them hardly any grades," he accused. Kakashi pouted slightly, though you couldn't really tell because of the surgical mask over his face. When he was asked about it, he would jokingly say he didn't want to catch swine flu, but they heard from some upperclassmen that he actually had some sort of scar under it that he didn't want anyone to see.

"Hey, Naruto," on kid whispered to the blonde quietly. "Isn't he like your grandpa or something? Can't you do something?" Sarutobi apparently heard him because he gave him a hard stare.

"I keep school-related business away from family affairs, Arata," he said pointedly, while Naruto rolled his eyes. They weren't really related, it was just that Naruto had gotten in trouble that many times and Sarutobi happened to know Jiraiya, so Naruto could almost think of him as a grandfather.

Sarurobi turned and started walking out. "Oh, and that homework _will_ be taken as a grade," he called over his shoulder. Nearly everyone in the class groaned, and when the door was shut Kakashi gave them a smile.

"Don't worry, he didn't say I couldn't drop your lowest grade," he told the class, causing sighs of relief to fill the room. "Now, since I'm already here, let's get done with the new lesson so you can go back to doing educationally-illegal things."

"I need the sheets back before fourth hour," Sasuke whispered to Naruto, who nodded, shoving the worksheets in his binder and taking out his textbook.

Sasuke let out a small sigh, reclining back in his seat and listening to Kakashi's speech, which even the teacher though it was boring considering the facial expression he wore while giving it. Sasuke frowned, looking down at his text book and flipping to the page. He had spanish next hour, which he didn't particularly enjoy, and the gym. After that was biology II and luckily lunch. There was only three more hours after that but then he had to go to work. Sasuke chewed on the end of his pencil. It just seemed like it was going to be another boring day.

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She woke up with a start, and as she blinked away sleep she knew she was someplace she did not want to be. She sat up quickly, realizing her hands were tied, and fear filled her. It was completely black, though she was pretty sure there was a sliver of light across from her that was so dim she couldn't see it if she looked directly at it. Her clothes were intact and she didn't feel any pain apart from the throbbing in the back of her head from where they clubbed her.

Her headache was big enough that she didn't hear someone approaching until they opened the door, the dim light illuminating a figure she couldn't quite make out.

"Who are you?" she squeaked. he man chuckled, and something glinted in his hand.

"No need to be afraid, dear, it won't last long," he told her. Her eyes widened and tears of fear filled her eyes.

No-one was around to hear the screaming.

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**Yea, I posted this earlier but I didn't like it, so I decided to redo it and work on the outline I had a bit more...**

**Reviews are always welcome!  
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	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Naruto~

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_Reet, reet, reet-_

With a groan, Sasuke rolled over and slammed his hand down on his alarm clock, effectively shutting it up. He blinked groggily, looking at the time as he racked his brain in the half-asleep state he was in, trying to remember why the hell he set his alarm.

_Oh, yea...school..._

He groaned again, contemplating whether or not he should get up or just lay there. He was pretty sure they weren't doing anything too important at school today... But then Itachi would throw a fit...

_Why is your bed the most comfortable when you have to leave it?_ he mentally groaned, deciding the wrath of his brother was more appealing than a pointless day of school.

He rolled on his back, throwing a hand over his eyes to try and block the glaring sunshine piercing his eyelids, and let out a deep sigh, letting his mind go blank again.

His door opened, making him jump and tense, and he dragged his gaze to the door.

"Oh, no, you are _not_ going back to sleep again," a voice he recognized to be Itachi's told him. Sasuke shot him a weak glare, muttering a 'go away' before rolling on his side, facing away from the door. Itachi sighed. "This is the third time you've slept in this week, Sasuke, and I can't take you to school today." No response. He sighed again, before a smirk found it's way to his lips. Had Sasuke seen it, he would have most likely cowered in fear. "You forced my hand, Otouto," he stated rather sweetly.

"Dog pile!" a new and extremely different voice shouted. Sasuke's eyes immediately snapped open, but he didn't have time to dodge the flying blonde heading in his direction.

"What the fuck!" he yelled as Naruto painfully collided into him, the blonde's forehead hitting his nose and an elbow digging into his stomach. He sat up and shoved Naruto off his bed, which earned him a colorful string of complaints, and he glared vehemently at his brother. Itachi merely smirked triumphantly in return.

"Breakfast is on the table," he said casually, turning and walking away. Sasuke glared at his retreating form a bit before reaching his arms up and stretching.

"You know, Teme, from all the head injuries I receive from you, I wouldn't be surprised if I went brain dead," Naruto said conversationally as he stood up, dusting off his clothes as if nothing happened.

"You're already brain dead," Sasuke answered immediately, scowling at nothing in particular as he threw the covers off him. "Now get out of my room."

"You're a bastard, you know that?" Naruto whined, pouting.

"I think I have the right to be at the moment," Sasuke replied smoothly, fishing a shirt from his closet. He wrinkled his nose when he thought he might sneeze and found a pair of pants.

The smell of food reached Naruto's nose and any comeback he had thought of was forgotten as he took off down the hall. Sasuke rolled his eyes. He would swear Naruto thought with his stomach.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto called from the kitchen. Apparently he was already there and eating. "How come your cooking isn't awesome like Itachi's?"

"'Cause I'm not a chick," Sasuke shot back, stepping in the bathroom and grabbing his toothbrush.

"I know where you sleep, Sasuke..."

"Me too!" He spit into the sink, wiping his mouth on one of the towels hanging up and flicking the light off. As he was walking to the kitchen, he heard Naruto complaining about how Itachi managed to live with someone who could turn into the devil when he woke up. Itachi replied with 'You need to have the patience of a Saint.' Sasuke smirked, rolling his eyes as he walked in the kitchen. Naruto was indeed at the table, wolfing down some scrambled eggs with Itachi giving him an incredulous look.

"Dobe, breathe between bites," Sasuke told him as he sat down, and as if on cue Naruto started coughing. Sasuke put down the peice of a pancake speared on his fork and clapped him on the back.

"Deciding to grace us with your presence this morning?" Itachi asked dryly, eating like he actually had manners unlike the younger two. Sasuke grabbed his fork again when Naruto was able to breath.

"I'm not a morning person," he defended.

A chuckle. "Obviously."

After talking a bit more about dinner that night and work hours (Itachi said they finally have a case at work, and he sounded rather relieved), Naruto dragged an unwilling Sasuke down to his car so they could go to school, shouting nonsense about it being pancake day or something even though they just ate while Sasuke ordered him to let go of him.

**_x_x_**

They didn't do anything much, that day, of course, except go over material for the upcoming midterms that Sasuke already knew. To him, all of his classes were ridiculously easy, and the only thing he had even the slightest trouble in was Algebra II. At the beginning of the year, he listened to his gifted teachers telling the class how harder normal classes would have been because they would know everything and not be able to pay attention, and that the gifted classes provided a pleasant challenge. Which was bull shit, of course, he was about ready to just fall asleep during Orochimaru's speech on human anatomy. Yes, you idiot, the human heart has four chambers. Yes, we have two lungs. Now shut the hell up or tell us something we don't know.

Before Sasuke could start to mutilate his workbook in some interesting way to relieve his boredom, a loud ringing made the class sigh in relief and start putting up their things.

Ah, saved by the bell. He hurriedly packed his bag and squeezed through the throng of students.

Almost. Damnit.

Just as Sasuke was not five feet from the door, Orochimaru called his name to try and talk to him, making Sasuke scowl.

Ah, not this again. He turned aroud slightly, pretending to be pushed out by the crowd of exiting students.

"Sorry, I have to make up a test during lunch," he lied, quickly manuvering away from the door and science wing. When he was finally outside, he sighed in relief. Orochimaru had been trying to get him to join the biology club lately, and was quite persistent, but Sasuke was just not interested in it. There was no way in hell he was going to put any effort into something at school (that was not waking up on time and getting there, because he actually did have to put effort into that), and then there was that red-headed prep he was about eighty percent sure was stalking him, who was also currently in the club.

"Oi, teme!" he heard someone shout over the noise of other students talking. Turning at the voice, he saw a blond head bobbing towards him through the crowd and waited for him. "You look bored," Naruto pointed out when he caught up.

"Orochimaru decided to teach us junior high material today," Sasuke replied with a sigh.

"Pedomaru?" Naruto asked, and both visibly shuddered. They both had the sneaking suspicion their Biology teacher wanted to do more than just _teach_ his students. Anyone would, if they saw the way he licked his lips. The first time Sakura saw him she was sure he was into guys.

They started walking towards the cafeteria. "You're working today, right?"

"No."

Naruto paused for a second, frowning, before walking. "Then who's running the store? I'm still using my holiday to study." Naruto had taken a few days off so he could study for the upcoming exams. It wasn't his idea, of course; Iruka talked Jiraiya into it.

Sasuke rose an eyebrow at him. "Maybe Jiraiya is actually taking care of the store he owns, today?" he asked dryly. An expresssion of horror dawned on the blond's face.

"Oh, God, he did something bad," he choked out. Sasuke frowned, before widening his eyes in slight fear when he remembered he got a call from Jiraiya yesterday giving him an unscheduled and sudden day off. Naruto caught the look on the Uchiha's face.

"Haha, it's you this time!" he snickered, even going as far as to point a finger at him. Sasuke heaved a sigh, wondering if his schedule was going to get suddenly changed or if his paycheck would be missing a digit in the amount written. Their boss had a habit of doing something stupid, only to realize later that his two only employees wouldn't exactly be too happy with it, and so he would give them days off or take off hours they would still get paid for to try and make it up.

"Dobe," Sasuke sighed. "Karma's a bitch." As they neared the cafeteria, they noticed one of those fold out white tables beside the door, with a picture of what looked like the head cheerleader taped on the brick wall behind the cheerleaders sitting behind said table.

"What, are they campaigning her for homecoming again? Isn't that like a month away, though?" Naruto wondered.

"Isn't she still missing?" Sasuke asked back, boredly reading the poster they had taped to the front of the table. His eyes widened slightly. "Nevermind, I guess they found her."

"They did?" Naruto looked at the poster. "...Oh."

A black poster, the kind you buy for twenty five cents at Walmart, was decorated with silver glitter that read: "Buy flowers for Rebecca Smith for three dollars each." Another picture of said girl was pasted here, "We will all miss her greatly and may she rest in peace." All of the cheerleaders either looked like they had been crying or were about to, and there was a long line of students waiting with money in hand.

"Poor her," Naruto sympathized, frowning. Sasuke 'hn'ed, pursing his lips. They didn't know her, but he wasn't that cold as to just shrug off something that was obviously upsetting so many people, even if some of those people just had a blind idolization for her. They walked through the doors and found their table, where most of their friends were already waiting.

"Guys!" Sakura gushed, bristling with new gossip. Ino was sitting beside her, and Shikamaru was beside her with his head on the table, seemingly asleep. Chouji was munching happily away at his never ending bag of potato chips. "Did you hear?"

"If it's about the reason there's a crowd of people blocking the door, than yes," Sasuke sighed, sitting a seat away from the pink haired girl so Naruto could sit between them. (He was his human shield; it never occured to him Naruto would _want_ to sit by her.)

"Oh," Sakura pouted. "Did you hear how they found her?"

"Nope," Naruto replied before Sasuke could say he didn't care. Sasuke frowned at him, and Naruto grinned back.

Not noticing their exchange, Sakura went on talking. "They said the police found her body in the woods this morning all cut up. Apparently the family hired detectives to find her yesterday."

"Must've been what Itachi was talking about," Naruto mused, looking at Sasuke, who shrugged.

"They were almost rich," Ino put in. "They probably _would_ get the best."

"Should've gotten them sooner," Sasuke stated. "The police are idiots."

"They were working hard!" Ino objected, frowning at him. "Not everyone shares your veiw on policemen, you know."

"Are you kidding?" Sasuke scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "Itachi's shown me some of the cases they threw on AIA because they couldn't figure it out. It was ridiculous how easy it was to solve it." Eyes turned to Naruto and Sakura for their opinion. Naruto blinked before offering a nervous smile.

"I agree with Sasuke," he admitted. "I've seen some of the cases too."

"Isn't most police work just arresting drunks or druggies and catching criminals they already know the identity of...?" Sakura asked slowly.

"Exactly," Sasuke agreed, then, seeing the happy look he got from Sakura, regretted agreeing. Ino pouted, and Naruto jumped up to go get lunch when he spotted what they were having from another student's tray.

"Oi, Naruto, get me some too!" a new voice yelled across the cafeteria as the owner sat down on the other side of the Uchiha.

"Ow," Sasuke said pointedly, his ear throbbing as he glanced at Kiba irritably.

"You got money?" Naruto yelled right back, not even noticing the cafeteria looking at them with teachers giving disapproving looks.

"I'll pay you back later!" Kiba shouted, and Sasuke glared at him. Kiba blinked innocently back. "What?" Sasuke just shook his head condescendingly and turned back to the table to see the Hyuuga girl sitting across from him. She was looking towards Naruto at first, but then got snagged into a conversation with Ino and Sakura about whether or not she was going to homecoming.

"Um, I don't think so..." she replied quietly, her face coloring slightly.

"But why not!" Sakura sighed. "Hasn't anyone asked you? You're really pretty, so someone _had_ to have asked." Her face colored more and she replied that no one had, her eyes glancing towards Naruto again. Unfortunately for her, Sasuke was in her line of sight, and being the evil bastard he is, he couldn't help but tease her again and smirk knowingly. Her face darkened about two more shades and she quickly looked away again. Sakura watched their exchange curiously while Ino rambled on about the dresses she had picked out. Kiba was looking at the sleeping member of their party, frowning.

"Is he alive?" he wondered out loud, looking at Ino. Chouji had gone to get lunch with Naruto.

"He's been like that since I got here," Ino stated, frowning at the most likely sleeping teen. Kiba tried calling his name and shaking him, but he didn't budge. When Naruto and Chouji got back with their plates, Chouji paused by Shikamaru before he sat down.

"Your mom's standing at the door with her frying pan again."

"I'm up!" Shikamaru suddenly yelped, jerking upright in his seat. Hinata jumped at the sudden exclamation, and Naruto slid Kiba's lunch across the table- Sasuke snagged an apple when it passed in front of him- while Kiba and Ino laughed at Shikamaru, who blinked confusedly before shooting a half-hearted glare towards his best friend. He mumbled something and put his head back down.

"What about you guys?" Sakura asked, looking at the boys on the other side of the table. "Are you going to homecoming?"

"Is that an invitation?" Naruto suggested slyly, wagging his eyebrows. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"No," Sasuke deadpanned, and Sakura seemed to deflate.

Kiba shrugged. "If I'm bored enough maybe." Sakura and Ino went back to discussing dresses, dragging Hinata into the conversation after a while, and the rest ate their lunch while occaisionally conversing every now and then until the bell rang. Ino and Chouji dragged Shikamaru up by his collar as if they had done it plenty times before, and Sasuke stood and turned to go to his next class while Kiba and Naruto went to their shared class. He was almost outside the cafeteria when he was stopped by Sakura, who had an almost hopeful look in her eyes.

"Are you sure you're not going to homecoming?" she asked, giving him a pleading smile. He sighed. Most of the lunchroom was empty now, except for a large handfull of students who were still caught behind the crowds trying to get through the doors.

"I wouldn't have said 'no' if I wasn't sure." Yes he would have.

Sakura sighed as well, looking crestfallen. "Why do you never go out with anyone?" she whined. "You haven't even tried it."

"You wouldn't know that," he pointed out. They had known each other since eight grade, but had only been friends since tenth.

"Then who have you gone out with?" she asked pointedly, and when he didn't answer she frowned. "See? You haven't even tried it."

Sasuke sighed again, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose in agitation. "What's the point of this, Sakura?"

"Do you like someone else?" she asked. "Is that it?"

Figuring it would get her off his back, Sasuke said, "Yea, that's it." She looked positively depressed then, and Sasuke looked away, not noticing how she sneaked a peak over his shoulder and glanced back at him.

"Fine then," she sighed, shifting the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. "See you sixth hour." She turned and left before he could reply, and he frowned after her before turning around and almost running into Hinata, who apologized. He held the door open for her and went on to his next class.

**_x_x_**

"So you turned Sakura down again?" Naruto asked curiously as he locked his car. They started walking up the steps of Sasuke's apartment. He was still being cheerfull, but his eyes were slightly more darker than usual.

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair, shrugging his bag off his shoulder and letting it fall on the floor. "How'd you find out?" He actually made an effort to keep it from Naruto whenever Sakura asked him out, because he knew it would upset him. It was one of the reasons he wouldn't date Sakura, along with the fact that he just didn't her like that.

"She was being all sad and stuff in art again," the blond stated. Sasuke was reminded of and almost felt the need to tell Naruto if he noticed how Hinata looked at him, but refrained. "And you were both trying not to look at each other." Contrary to popular belief, Naruto was actually very perceptive, especially when it came to his friends.

Sasuke took out his keys and just as he was about to unlock the door, it swung open and he was almost run over by his brother.

"Sorry," Itachi apologized quickly as he paused to make sure he didn't knock either of them over. "Got called to a crime scene."

"Cheerleader?" Sasuke guessed.

"Yea. Won't be back till late, see you tomorrow," Itachi walked down the stairs and got in his car.

"He seems eager," Naruto noted, watching him drive off.

"First case in a month," Sasuke explained as he walked through the door and tossed his bag on the couch. "Crime's been down big time for some reason. Coke?"

"Gatorade," Naruto replied, plopping down on the couch and propping his feet up on the table as he grabbed the remote. Sasuke came back and tossed his drink to him as he popped open his.

**_x_x_**

Sasuke parked his car beside the one he recognized as Naruto's. His brother had a day off, so Sasuke was free to use the car as he pleased. He grabbed his name tag from his back pocket and clipped it to the front of his shirt as he walked through the door to the small but popular bookstore, already saying, "What did you do?" before Jiraiya could say, "Sasuke! How was your day? Would you like some cookies? Soda?" The white-haired man held up one of those disgusting individually wrapped cookies they sell in some stores. There was a pause, where Sasuke was scowling and Naruto, leaning against the customer side of the counter, was looking at them with amusement.

"I hate sweets," Sasuke deadpanned.

"I thought you would say that," Jiraiya sighed, his head hanging.

Another glare. "What did you do?"

"Well, you see..." Jiraiya laughed nervously. "You know how Naruto's still on vacation next week, and that's when you take yours..." Sasuke didn't have a reason for taking vacation, he just used it because he knew a vacation was a fool-proof (Jiraiya-proof) way to keep your day off and not get it changed last minute. Like it always did. "But I have to fly to Chicago for a business trip that week too, so..." He gave a slightly pleading look. "Can you come in that week?" Naruto cackled beside the counter, and Sasuke shot him a glare and sighed irritably. It was okay, he could take his vacation the next week. Naruto would working again by then, but he always used Jiraiya's slip ups to his benefit.

"I expect to have paid days off until next week, including today," Sasuke stated with a smirk, giving Jiraiya a challenging look. "And then I'll take my vacation."

Jiraiya looked at Sasuke like he was crazy at his first part of the deal, but Sasuke added smugly, "Or you could just hire another person, but that would 'take more money,' as you put it."

"Deal," Jiraiya sighed, looking defeated. "Come in Monday." Naruto laughed again, and Jiraiya turned to him. "Naruto, help me take those boxes to the back."

"But I'm on vacation!" the blond protested.

"You don't have any physical disability, and since you're standing on that side of the counter, you're a customer, and I always ask my customers for help."

"No you don't!"

"Well I do now, let's go!" Naruto groaned loudly and pushed himself off the counter. Sasuke stayed in the store and looked through the shelves for the book he needed for his english class project. It was rare they actually had a project, but apparently the princepal got to Kakashi again. Sasuke grabbed a copy of That Was Then, This is Now and waited patiently at the counter until Naruto came back, grumbling.

"Get me a copy too?" he asked. Sasuke smirked at his misfortune but went to get another copy. Naruto payed for their books and made a mad dash out of the door before Jiraiya could catch him again. Sasuke smirked and left before their boss thought to use him while he was there.

**_x_x_**

The apartment was quiet when he got home, so he figured his brother had already gone to sleep. Sasuke threw his nametag on the table in the kitchen and shrugged off his jacket. He should probably go to sleep soon, if he didn't want to be snapping at anyone and anything in the morning...

The mess on the coffee table and his brother asleep sitting up caught his attention, and he moved closer to see if he really was asleep. Sasuke started organizing the papers and photos on the table, trying not to look at the photos of the body too closely. There was alot of blood, that was obvious, but he didn't want to know what was under the blood.

"You'll get a crick in your neck," he said pointedly, knowing his brother was a light sleeper. Itachi mumbled something incomprehendible and rather comically fell on his side so he was sleeping a bit more normally. Sasuke rolled his eyes and tossed the blanket on the back of the couch over him, making sure to cover the photos with one of the manilla folders. It looks like Itachi had been overworking again, like he always does.

Sasuke grabbed his book and went to his room, intent on reading a chapter or two before he went to sleep.

* * *

**Plop, prop, pop, plop, prop, pop- sorry, lol**

Well this chapter is not one of my favorites, but at least I updated, right? Sorry about my disappearance D:

Review please! They make me happy and make me write faster :D 


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